500 pencils

Sharpen up with 500 pencils and watch a lifelong learning journey unfold. So incredibly simple, pencils are a vital tool for learning, giving children the chance to put their thoughts and ideas on paper. The most basic of items can make such a difference to children's lives.

Give the gift of education with 500 pencils and nurture learning and a prosperous future.

Children going back to school after fleeing conflict

That is why I am here, so that I can study.

- Serengino Nicolette Divine, 13

Serengino Nicolette Divine, 13, vividly remembers the day that Seleka rebel group returned to her hometown. "When I went back to the house," she recalls, "Selekas were there killing people, massacring and looting. This is why my father said we can't stay in our neighbourhood...he told my mother that I couldn't go back to school. My mother said that a school was starting at the monastery. That is why I am here, so that I can study."

The school Nicolette now attends is a temporary learning space set up by UNICEF at the Boy Rabe Monastery in Bangui. Almost two thirds of all schools in the Central African Republic remain closed because of the ongoing conflict in the country, thereby preventing children from access to adequate education. However, UNICEF and partners have built 144 temporary learning spaces that are serving nearly 23,600 displaced children across the country.